Point Sur

Wednesday:  Drove to Big Sur, trying to spot some condors.  Debbie has a favorite spot for finding them, so we stopped there every time we passed it.  They were uncooperative, however - we never did find any but it sure was pretty along the coast...

Bixby Bridge

 Seal sighting

 Everywhere we went along the coast, we were able to spot whales - we were told they are migrating right now, and they hug the shore to avoid sharks & killer whales.

When I saw where our destination was, my heart nearly failed me - Point Sur Lighthouse sits on top of this mountain, and it has to be climbed on foot because the road is too narrow to drive up.

 

 (via: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2885049)

I seriously doubted whether I could make it or not...  Not only was it a major hike, but the wind was blowing about 60 mph, and it was COLD!

The tour guides took us gradually, stopping about every ten yards and told little tidbits of information about the place.  There were no guardrails along the trail, and with the high wind, it was a little spooky and breathing was tricky (not to mention hearing the tour guide.)

It takes 3 hours to get to the top.  I'm glad I did it, but I can promise you, I will never do it again!

 Keeper's houses & water tower...

Blue whale remains in front of the assistant keepers house - those things are HUGE!

The keeper's house had some interesting antiques... (Mom had one of these washers when we lived in Highland.)

This little guy kept Dana company while we shopped in the gift shop...

One of the prettiest beaches we saw, but it is inaccessible to the public.  Sad.

Vacation Day 2 - Big Basin

I wasn't expecting this part of the trip at all, seeing as how it was so far off the path, but D & D planned to take me to see the Redwoods.  I am so thankful that they did, because I would probably never see them otherwise.

The first thing we saw when we got out of the car, was a great big woodpecker.  Debbie is an avid birdwatcher, and this was a major score!  She later said that she would never forget the day she saw a woodpecker, for me, I will never forget Debbie seeing her first woodpecker!

Amphitheater made of trees...

A downed tree here is a major happening...  Legend is that one of the first residents built his entire house from one tree!

It just happened to be Earth Day, so we attempted to hug one.  Question: How many sisters does it take to hug a Redwood?

Many of the trees were burned out inside, and yet still living and growing - how is that possible?

Looking up at the sky from inside a burned out tree...

Dana, our host and chauffeur, was such a trooper - barely recovered from chemo, and yet he kept up with us all...

 Opal Creek:

 After hiking all over creation, we found the one sunny spot in the entire park and had a picnic lunch.
Without the wind, it was actually almost warm...

 On the way back, Ruth was saying how disappointed she was that we didn't see bigfoot - then we ran across this place.  So sad that it was closed...

Further down the road, we stopped at a place called Elkhorn Slough - it's kind of an inlet from the ocean.  Seals like to come here and rest because it is safe from sharks, whales, and any other preditors.  There were a lot of them hanging out here that day.  We were able to get pretty close...

Ruth wanted to pet one so badly - she reached down and touched one, and he turned and snapped at her!  Scared her a little...

Lots and lots of seals...                                                                                            

All the way down the boat ramp...

Everywhere we went, we looked for sea otters - and we did see them, but never got close enough for a good shot...

 Next, we found a big farmer's market and stopped for a snack...

By then, most of us needed a nap.  (It's a 4 hour drive.)

Fun day!

Monterey Getaway Day 1

My sister has been talking about taking me to Monterrey for years, and finally this year she said that we were going to make it happen.  However, the closer it got, the more questionable it became.

There has been so much going on in our families - cancer, heart problems, family drama, that I wondered right up to the last minute if it was going to actually happen.
To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was even up to it.  But my one sister furnished the plane ticket, and the other took care of the hotel room, so how was I supposed to say no to that?

My brother in law (the cancer victim) got the all clear from his doctor, so it seemed the trip was on...

My older sister flew down from Utah, and had a layover in Vegas, so I joined her at the airport there, and we went on to Reno together to meet my other sister.  It was Easter Sunday, so we joined the family Easter egg hunt & dinner party :-)

Debbie's family is a fun bunch - and dinner was amazing!  They smoked a turkey and a ham, and had a mashed potato dish with a pecan crust - who knew mashed potatoes could taste like candy?  Bacon wrapped green beans... and I don't even remember the rest.  Anyway, it was a feast.

We hit the road early the next morning...

Monday:

After living in a place that only grows rocks and dirt, seeing a place where vegetation just springs up spontaneously everywhere was an amazing sight - everything was so GREEN!

We arrived in Monterey about 4:30, and checked in to our hotel.  I couldn't believe all the flowers everywhere!

Ruth's and my room was down on the lower level in the back...

It felt kind of secluded there, and would have been pretty peaceful if the bungalow above us had not had a room full of children who jumped off the beds and ran around all night...

This was the view from our room:

And this giant calla lilly was right outside our door - I have never seen one this size before, it was gorgeous!

We were there early enough that we went for a drive around Pacific Grove to the Point Pinos Lighthouse.  Such a cute place!  It was small, and the tour only took a few minutes...

I decided that I need to take up a collection and buy it for myself - it's the perfect size for me...

And this is where I would spend most of my days - in this little lookout room with the big window sill.  The perfect place to sit and read and watch the ocean...

It was windy and pretty chilly there...

 
We waved good-bye to the lighthouse, and drove down to the beach...

The beach squirrels were pretty brazen...

Lots of wildlife...

The goose came and posed for us :-)

We kept losing Ruth - she would go wandering off by herself all the time...
But in her wandering she found something interesting - a marker at the site where John Denver crashed his plane years ago...

From there we drove down to cannery row to find a place for dinner.  Bubba Gump!

There's even a Forest Gump bench out front - who could resist?

Scene from Cannery Row...

Can never get enough of the ocean.